8/3/2019 Times Article About Reputation Defender
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Tuesday, Apr. 19, 2011
Repairing Your Damaged OnlineReputation: When Is It Time to Call
theExperts?By Megan Gibson
M ichaelFertikm ayberunningabusiness,butbythetim enewcustom
ersareknockingonhisdoor,thingshave
turneddecidedlypersonal."Peoplesenduslettersthatsay,'Yousavedm
ylife,'"saystheCEOofReputation.com
pointingtothedram
aticwaysinwhichaperson'svirtualreputationcanshapetheirday-to-dayroutine."They
literallysay,'I'm nowabletolivem ylife.'"
W henm ostW ebsurfersGooglethem
selves,theself-searchbeginsandendswithsocialsites:linkstoaLinkedIn
profile,aTwitterhandleand,ifthey'vecorrectlyusedtheirprivacysettings,aprotectedFacebookwall.Ifthey're
reallylucky,apressreleaseo newsarticlem
ightpopupdetailinganaccom plishm entortwo.Butforagrowingnum
berofpeople,thesesearchescanalsodrudgeupsom
ethingugly:blogpostwrittenbyanexaboutanasty
divorce,anil-advisedYouTubevideoofarow
dynightout,detailsofadecade-oldbankruptcy.Asm uchaswe
m ightbeloathtoadm itit,whattheInternetissayingaboutusm
atters.JustaskanyonewhohaseverGoogleda
colleagueorrom anticinteres it'sthefastestwaytodigupthedirtonsom
eone.(Seepicturesoflifeinthe
Googleplex.)
M or thanjustasourceofpersonalhum
iliation,onlinereputationscanalsobeprofessionallydevastating.A201
studybyM icrosoftandCros -Tab,am
arket-researchagency,foundthat78% ofsurveyedU.S.com panies
exam
inedthesearch-engineresultsofprospectivehires.Thestudyalsofoundthat86%
ofem ployersreported
thatapositiveonlinereputationfactorsintotheirhiringdecision.W
hichm eansallthosepersistentonlinelinks,
videosandblogsm ear couldbecom eam ajorfinancialliability.
Entertheexpertsfrom suchonline-reputation-m anagem entfirm
sasReputation.com andIntegrityDefenders.
Forafee,thesecom
paniesworkwithyoutoescapeabadrap.Andwhileit'nexttoim
possibletoerasesom ethin
from
theInternet,theyknowthetricksofburyingthenegativebeneathanavalancheofpositivelinks."W
etryan
prom otegoodinform
ationaboutyou,"saysAlanAssante,presidentofIntegrityDefenders,aNewJerseybased
com panyfoundedin2009."W hetherit'syou accom plishm
entsorgoodthingsyou'vedoneinthepast,weuse
thatinform ationtosuppresstheunwantedinform ation."
Soundssim
ple,right?Butnowconsiderthefactthatitcanbeextraordinarilydifficulttosuppresspopularlinks,
ortricksearchenginesintoreprioritizingresults.That'swhereprofessionalslikeAssanteandFertik,withtheir
m asteryofsearchalgorithm scom ein.Reputation.com
,oneoftheleadingcom paniesinthefield,em ploysm ore
than100onlineexperts,m anywithPh.D.s,whousetheirintim ateknow
ledgeo search-engineoptim ization
rankingsandsom ethingcalledprevalencealgorithm
todrivepositivesearchresultstothetop.(Totweetornot
totweet?)
Page 2 of 3Bad Online Reputation? How Experts Can Make You Look
Good -- Printout -- TIME
12/2/2011http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,2065597,00.html
8/3/2019 Times Article About Reputation Defender
3/3
Onceuponatim e,itwaschieflycelebritiesandhigh-profileW
ebuserswhowereconcernedabouttheirsearch
results.Butm orerecently,com m onW ebusershavesim
ilarlybeguntorealizethatskeletonsfrom theirpastare
poppinguponW ebbrowsers.W hileonline-reputation-m anagem entcom
panieshavebeenaroundforafewyears
thedem
andfortheirbusinesshasbeenacceleratingexponentially.Fertiksayshiscom
pany'srevenueshave
soared600%
inthepastyearalone,driveninpartbyclientslookingtokeeptheirdataprivate,aswellasbythe
uptickincustom erslookingtoescapenegativeW
ebreputations.Thesedays,thesortofpersonhopingtoditchabadrepisalm
ostasdiverseastheW ebitself,from collegestudentstosm
all-businessowners,divorcstoyoung
professionals.Asforthem ostcom m onproblem splaguingcustom
ers,AssanteandFertiksaytheyseealotof
issuespertainingtoavengefulexorfinancialtroublesfrom
yearsago.
"Thesetofproblem shasbecom ealotm orecom
plex,"Fertiksays,describingnotonlythewayspeoplebecom e
tiedtonegativeinform
ation,butalsohowthatdatathenfloatstothetopoftheW eb."Associalm
ediaandm obile
m ediaexplodedanddatam ininghasgottenm
oresophisticated,peoplehavealotm orepointsofvulnerability."
Essentially,them oreyouliveyourlifeonline,them orelikelyitbecom
esthatnegativeinform ationcanbe
associatedwithyouandthem
orepersistentlyitcanfollowyou.(See25websitesyoucan'tlivewithout.)
Oncesom ethinguglygetsoutthere,online-reputationm
anagerssayitcanbealongprocesstosuppressit.Aftera
clientcallsFertik'scom panyandrequeststhefirm
'sReputationDefendersservice,anexpertcom bstheW ebto
seewhatinform
ationisoutthere.Oncethoseresultsareassessed,theclientwillapprovewhatspecific
inform ationthey'dlikeprom
oted.Fertiksaysthisstepintheprocessisusuallyachievedbycreatingapersonal
website,aLinkedInprofileoraTwitteraccount,allthingsthatrankhighonsearchenginesandthatcanbeused
toprom otepositiveinform ation.(Healsonotesthathiscom
panywon'tcreateinform ationaboutyou.It'llonly
prom
otethingsthataretrue,soyoucanforgetaboutthatfauxNobelPrizelink.)
It'saneffective,butcostly,process:Reputation.com
chargesastartingrateof$3,000am onthforitsReputation
Defenderservice,whileIntegrityDefenderscharges$498toclearnegativelinksfrom
thefirstpageofsearch
resultsand$929tocleartwopages(theyalsoofferam
oney-backguarantee).H eftypricestobesure,butifyou
canaffordthecost,theservicescouldbeworthit,ifonlyforpeaceofm
ind.AccordingtoDr.FrankFarley,a
psychologistatTem pleUniversityandaform erpresidentoftheAm
ericanPsychologicalAssociation,theintim ate
natureofone'sreputationm
eansthatanythreattoitcouldalsobeasignificantthreattoone'sm
entalhealth,
leavingapersonfeelinghelpless,anxiousorevendepressed."Ourself-concept,ourself-esteem
,ourreputation
allofthesearecentraltowhoweare,"hesays.Evenwhenit'sonline.
Seebigideasforsm allbusinesses.
Seethem eteoricriseofYouTube.
Find this article at:http://www.tim e.com /tim
e/business/article/0,8599,2065597,00.htm l
Click to Print
Page 3 of 3Bad Online Reputation? How Experts Can Make You Look
Good -- Printout -- TIME
12/2/2011http://www time com/time/printout/0 8816 2065597 00
html
